The Week Ahead

Tuesday: The President will host an event on the economy at the White House.

Wednesday: The President and the First Lady will travel to Houston, TX. The President will attend a memorial service at Fort Hood. He will attend DCCC and DSCC events. More details regarding the President and First Lady’s travel to Houston will be forthcoming.

Thursday: The President and the First Lady will travel to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in Austin, TX. The President will deliver remarks at a Civil Rights Summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act. The President and the First Lady will return to Washington, DC, in the afternoon.

Friday: The President will travel to New York, NY to deliver remarks at the National Action Network’s 16th Annual Convention.

In light of Obamacare achieving its goal of 7 million initial insurance sign-ups, William Kristol’s 1993 memo urging his party to block health care reform at all costs seems prescient. In it, the then-GOP operative’s message was remarkably candid: it’s a “serious political threat to the Republican Party.”

Kristol argued that it would cast Democrats as protectors of the middle class and “strike a punishing blow” to GOP ideals about the evils of government.

…. Two decades later, Democrats have achieved their century-long dream, defeating the GOP’s revived Kristol-esque strategy to destroy health care reform at all costs. Obamacare unexpectedly crossed its first big milestone last week with 7 million sign-ups on the exchanges. While the law still faces many challenges, conservatives who broadly predicted it would collapse under its own weight are forced to reckon with the unsettling fear that health care reform might succeed.

Michael Tomasky: The House GOP’s Down-Low, Backhanded Endorsement of Obamacare

Even as they publicly decry the president’s health care law, the moves they’re making behind closed doors reveal they may be resigned to its existence.

It’s not all that often that the lead piece on the Drudge Report attacks Republicans, so it’s worth a little savoring when it happens, and this one is especially delectable. The link was to an AP story reporting that two weeks ago, House Republicans stealthily voted for a measure that changed an aspect of the Affordable Care Act.

What? I know. In other words, Congress amends bill it passed a few years ago. In a normal moral universe, this would scarcely qualify as news. But when we speak of the House of Representatives, we are in the modern Republican Party’s moral universe, and there, the rules are different.

You see, by agreeing to amend Obamacare, Republicans are acknowledging the law’s existence and legitimacy. The only things they’re supposed to be doing with Obamacare are burning copies of it on the Capitol steps and voting to repeal it. But here they’ve done the exact opposite.

The intense conservative ire for Obamacare may seem like an anomaly in American history. But it’s eerily reminiscent of two other large — and now widely popular — expansions of the safety net: Social Security and Medicare.

The two programs are now a staple of American political culture. But a backward glance at the political environment during their inception reveals equally fierce, ugly antipathy from conservatives — including screaming warnings that they’d be ruinous to freedom.

….. Half a century later, Republicans loudly and proudly proclaim their support for both programs, and are loathe to admit their party ever opposed them.

ThinkProgress: The Ethics Of NBC Letting George W. Bush Be Interviewed By His Daughter

Last February, the world caught a glimpse George W. Bush’s paintings through work of a hacker named Guccifier. The paintings were amateurish and charming and slightly embarrassing for a former president. They famously included self-portraits of him bathing.

On Friday, Bush decided to show off a series of paintings of world leaders in a more controlled fashion — in an exclusive interview with his daughter, NBC News special correspondent Jenna Bush Hager…..

….as a journalistic outlet, what are the ethical implications of turning over an interview with a former President to his own daughter?

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics states that journalists should “avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.” Three experts in ethics and journalism contacted by ThinkProgress all raised substantial concerns with the segment.

President Obama will announce this week that he is directing all federal contractors to lift ‘gag rules’ that discourage or outright ban workers from discussing their salaries, the AP reported on Sunday. The move, which he will announce on April 8, is part of an effort to eliminate the pay gap between male and female employees who hold the same jobs or do the same work.

April 8 is 2014′s Pay Equity Day, which marks the number of extra days into 2014 that the average woman has to work to earn as much as her male counterpart did in 2013. Obama will also announce that he is directing all contractors to provide data on the pay of employees by race and gender.

Obama has long said that pay fairness by gender is one of his policy priorities, and these directives are consistent with his general approach of circumventing Congress where he can to make the changes for a fraction of the population that he’d like to see enacted in law for everyone.

Here at the White House, we’re getting ready for the first America’s PrepareAthon!, a national day of action that will take place April 30, 2014.

Join us this Monday, April 7 at 1:00 p.m. ET to discuss America’s PrepareAthon!, a community-based campaign to build a more secure and resilient nation by getting people to understand what disasters could happen in their communities and to take action to increase their preparedness. Actions include signing up for mobile alerts and warnings, holding a preparedness discussion to emphasize the steps people should take to be ready should a disaster occur, and conducting a drill so people are familiar with what to do beforehand.

Join us for a Google+ Hangout to hear from the head of FEMA, an award-winning meteorologist, and leaders from across the nation who share a passion for getting prepared.

On This Day

President Obama addresses U.S. troops during his visit to Baghdad, Iraq, April 7, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama receives a fist-bump from a U.S. soldier as he greets hundreds of U.S. troops during his visit to Iraq, April 7, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama reaches behind a pillar to shake hands with U.S. troops in Baghdad, Iraq, April 7, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama meets with General Raymond T. Odierno, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, during the President’s visit with U.S. troops in Baghdad, Iraq, April 7, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama removes his shoes as he prepares to visit the Blue Mosque April 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Obama signs a bill in the Oval Office, April 7, 2010 ( Photo by Pete Souza)

During a phone call from the Oval Office, April 7, 2010, President Obama talks with the family of workers who were killed in a West Virginia coal mine explosion on Monday (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Obama listens during a secure conference call and meeting on Libya in the Situation Room of the White House, April 7, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Obama waits with 2012 National Teacher of the Year, Rebecca Mieliwocki, 7th-grade English teacher at Luther Burbank High School, Burbank, Calif., and Education Secretary Arne Duncan in the Green Room of the White House before the start of a ceremony to honor the 2012 National and State Teachers of the Year in the East Room, April 24, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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MoooOOOooorning everyone – ran out of time again, will catch up with more newsie stuff later. Happy Monday!

“This whole enterprise was just an elaborate excuse,” says Barry Blitt about his cover for this week’s issue. “I enjoyed drawing Ted Cruz, John Boehner, and Michele Bachmann as petulant children—and I especially wanted to draw an open-mouthed Mitch McConnell being spoon-fed his meds.”

The success of the Affordable Care Act goes far beyond the 7.1 million enrollment figure! Start asking those opposed to ‪#‎Obamacare‬, if this is truly what they want to repeal!

•7.1 million enrolled in federal exchange as of 3/31/14 (85% have paid)
•86 million already insured now have preventative care with no co-pays
•5.1 million Medicare recipients have saved over $3.1 billion on prescription drugs
•3.1 million young adults 26 and under on their parent’s policy
•105 million no longer have lifetime dollar limits on their coverage
•5 million+ eligible poor left off medicaid in states that did not expand Medicaid
•All health insurance plans can no longer discriminate due to pre-existing conditions
•20.4 million women no longer pay for preventative services such as pap smears and mammograms
•In the past year, full-time employment grew by over 2 million while part-time employment declined by 230,000.
•18.6% or 2.6 million had policies cancelled due to non-compliance with the Affordable Care Act. Completely in line with the number of policies cancelled every year. The difference? You can now shop for another policy through the Exchanges.
• Health insurance premiums rose by an average of 50% nationwide from 2003 to 2010; 9% in 2011; 4% in 2012; 4% in 2013

‘Join us this Monday, April 7 at 1:00 p.m. ET to discuss America’s PrepareAthon!, a community-based campaign to build a more secure and resilient nation by getting people to understand what disasters could happen in their communities and to take action to increase their preparedness. Actions include signing up for mobile alerts and warnings, holding a preparedness discussion to emphasize the steps people should take to be ready should a disaster occur, and conducting a drill so people are familiar with what to do beforehand.
……………………….// ‘

Good morning TOD peeps!! Over the weekend my auntie informed me that she signed up for Obamacare!! She said on March 31, she saw a commercial that reminded her it was the last day. She called around 10 pm and received a message that she had made it and they gave her a day and time to call back. She called on Thursday and waited about 45 mins, when she finally talked to someone they were very helpful. She has a gold plan thru BCBS for $21.60 a month and her dental will be about $17. I was so happy because she had the number because I texted it to her earlier in the month!! She is diabetic, so now she can afford to get her insulin!!! I thank God!!!! I thank President Obama!!! And I thank TOD for keeping me informed so that I can inform others!!! #7millionandcounting

It sure does, Judith! It’s just great to have SO MUCH to look back on, and MOST, if not all, uplifting! Apart from the #ACA, the Obama Admin alone has been doing wonders for the health of the nation! Think of how much more relaxed you have been since 2008, how much happier, how often you have been smiling these days, and how many friendly contacts you have made.

Lately (within the last week or so) I’ve noticed that in Firefox, twitter pics are not always fully loading — at least for me — in this blog. I either have to resize the page or refresh the page to get the full picture. It is only a temporary solution because when new pics are added, it may or may not have the same problem.

Is anyone else having this problem? Is there a setting that needs to be changed that I am unaware of?

I don’t mind that much if he gets immunity. If he is the one who will block Nixon II from ascending to the Presidency…

Disclosure: I’ve always thought that Christie could be a formidable opponent to Hillary Clinton or any other democrat. He’s a much better campaigner than Romney, and don’t underestimate the naïveté of americans and their penchant for an “authoritarian” figure who would feed them with simplistic answers and wishful thinking.

“It sure does, Judith! It’s just great to have SO MUCH to look back on, and MOST, if not all, uplifting! Apart from the #ACA, the Obama Admin alone has been doing wonders for the health of the nation! Think of how much more relaxed you have been since 2008, how much happier, how often you have been smiling these days, and how many friendly contacts you have made.”

This picture, as well as others, tells me that President Obama is not one of those people who asks questions just to be polite. He is truly interested in the answer and is highly focused on the respondent and the response.

Hey! The h.s. where my daughter teaches in Indy was one of the schools receiving the $7 million grant. President Obama just mentioned it in his speech—-gave a shout out to what a h.s. in Indy was doing in preparing their students——so I checked, and it’s her school!—she teaches math classes. She was on spring break last week, and I don’t think she knew. Can’t wait to talk to her after school today. It is a great school—-does all kinds of innovative things.

Federal investigators are hauling witnesses in to testify before the grand jury on what they know about Bridgegate, the lane closure scandal on the George Washington Bridge, and on Hoboken, in regard to Zimmer’s charge that she was being blackmailed by the lieutenant governor to go along with a development project in her north Jersey city in order to keep post-Sandy recovery aid flowing.

It’s ironic that Drewniak is the first of the governor’s top aides to be seen visiting the federal building in Newark to meet with the grand jury. For 12 years, including all seven of Chris Christie’s tenure as U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Drewniak was spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, and he bonded with Christie. When Christie was elected governor in 2009, he brought Drewniak to the statehouse in Trenton with him, so Drewniak is quite familiar with the inner workings of a federal investigation.

UhOh. In Michael Tomasky’s piece, what jumped out at me: “the modern Republican Party’s moral universe, and there, the rules are different”. Suddenly, I had a weird idea about the ongoing TOD discussion of BT’s being ‘morally first’ on their own thread, and thought to myself, ‘perhaps I could keep my mouth shut’, but Hey! It’s Monday, and we all like a good discussion!! Right!?

VW considering tossing the UAW elections results and allowing the UAW in. *************Just found the story in my local paper. Here’s the link. It doesn’t even sound like they want another election……just going to let the UAW come in.